Actor Kartik Aaryan hits a six, with a potential Rs1,000 crore riding on him

Actor Kartik Aaryan has signed 'Freddy'.

It's a six for actor Kartik Aaryan! That the 30-year-old has six films in his kitty was confirmed after Friday's announcement that he has signed Freddy.

(Though it is quite common to hear buzz in the trade around actors signing films, the real confirmation comes when the filmmakers also make an official announcement.)

The six films are Freddy, Captain India, Sajid Nadiadwala's next, Shehzaada, Dhamaka and Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2.

The last two in the list were announced quite some time back: Dhamaka was completed in record time during the pandemic, and Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2, slated for a 2020 release before pandemic, had to be delayed. But the signing of Freddy, Captain India, Sajid Nadiadwala's next, Shehzaada happened recently and in quick succession.

Rumour mill

It has just been three months since Kartik exited from Dostana 2. Though Kartik never went on record about what really happened, soon enough the rumour mill kicked into gear. Then there was some talk about how Red Chillies' Freddy would not be made. Barely had this settled down when whispers that he would not be doing Aanand L. Rai's gangster film any more started spreading.

Of course, Freddy and Aanand's film had not even been announced at the time. Kartik maintained a dignified silence through it all. And Aanand himself went on record to state that there was nothing finalized with Kartik to begin with.

After kicking up a bit of dust in the media, the rumours and gossip died down. Meanwhile, Kartik went on to sign projects with filmmakers like Sajid Nadiadwala, Ronnie Screwvala and Ekta Kapoor. During this time, he was also looking forward to his next collaboration with Karan Johar and Shah Rukh Khan. And with Bhushan Kumar and Anees Bazmee's Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2, along with Ronnie Screwvala and Ram Madhvani's Dhamaka, he was sorted.

The Rs1000-crore calculation

Kartik Aaryan, between these half a dozen films, has as much as Rs1,000 crore riding on him.

If one looks at his last four films, barring Love Aaj Kal 2, which didn't do well theatrically (though it does find good audience on OTT), he has one century in Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety (Rs109 crore) and two near-centuries Luka Chuppi (Rs95 crore) and Pati Patni aur Woh (Rs97 crore) to his name.

Moreover, his films typically make anywhere from Rs50 crore to Rs75 crore when it comes to the sale of OTT, satellite and music rights. That makes each of his films a potential Rs150-170 crore earner.

Now if one does the math for his upcoming six films, we are looking at close to Rs1,000 crore expected out of these. Of course, Dhamaka won't get a theatrical release but then there are several out and out family entertainers in there which have the potential to go much beyond the Rs100 crore mark. After all Shehzaada is an official remake of Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo with Allu Arjun, and that film had done business of over Rs200 crore just in the Telugu version. As for Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2, that carries huge equity due to the first part with Akshay Kumar.

The actor is clearly on the roll and has left behind all the disturbance that he faced just around 100 days back. With a couple more announcements expected as well, Kartik Aaryan will have his hands full till 2022 end.

Kartik Aaryan's upcoming films

Dhamaka

Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2

Shehzaada

Sajid Nadiadwala's next

Captain India

Freddy